


Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Rift in Time

by MasterOvGravity



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, poke - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Fusion, F/F, F/M, Fights, M/M, Pokemon, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon References, Talking Pokemon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-02-19 08:22:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22574752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasterOvGravity/pseuds/MasterOvGravity
Summary: A growing crack in the sky. A Charmander who claims to be a human-turned-Pokémon. A Bulbasaur who wants to join a famous explorer's rescue team. A Squirtle running away from his past. An Empoleon who leads the world's most renowned expedition team. And a mysterious Pokémon hell-bent on slaughtering those who resist his rule.
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My upload schedule is going to be very inconsistent. The time between my first two chapters (one was the prologue) and my next was about a year and a quarter. Needless to say that unless I can level up my commitment stat (BNHA reference), I'm not going to be uploading a lot of chapters a month.  
> I do like the PKMN Mystery Dungeon games though, and the DX games released for the switch recently, so yay?

**Finally. You have awakened.**

_What? Where am I?_

**Don't you remember?**

_Oh, well, a little bit-actually, yes. Thank you... I guess?_

_**So you know what must be done. Correct?** _

_Yes, I do._

**Good. Now, I must ask you a series of questions.**

_I don't remember why, but we need to hurry up! Like, now!_

**Got it... Calm down!** **I'm hurrying up. So, the first question: Do you consider yourself to have lots of not-so-close friends or just a few close ones?**

_Straight to the point, aren't you? I have a few close ones, though I also have some not so close ones too so I'd just like to point out that this system is flawed._

**I know but this is just a one-time thing**

_Oh yeah... I forgot._

**And that answered my next question-**

_Which was?_

**If remembering every piece of information you hear was very important to you or of little importance compared to other necessities, but that information is of little importance.**

_Well I believe that I remember nearly every piece of information I hear... I think? Oh, whatever. Carry on._

**Next, do you act differently around your friends?**

_Uh... Yes. Yes, I do. Also, as a side-note, why are we rushing through this again?_

**Well they are currently breaking down the doors of the palace we are currently seeking refuge inside of so we need to send you on your way before they make it down here.**

_I'm pretty sure I can handle myself, though..._

**Except your in your weakened state, which means you'd be more of a liability than an asset.**

_Wow. Thanks for that boost of confidence._

**You're welcome, my friend!**

_I was being sarcastic..._

**...**

_Okay, I surrender! You win! You can continue now!_

**Good. Finally, would you sacrifice your life for the lives of others?**

_Uh... I have to tell the truth, right?_

**Yes, you do.**

_Umm... I feel really bad for saying this, but I'm not sure I'd actually be able to give my life if it came down to it. I feel like I'd try, but..._

**It's alright. I never cared much for thought-provoking, character-testing questions anyway. So now the questions have finished. I assume you want to know your results, right?**

_Yeah, I do._

**Alright, you are... Different.**

Different in a good way or a bad one?

**That's the thing. I'm not sure yet. But I do know you have the will to conquer adversity even in the darkest of times. You are a person with a close to perfect moral compass, but fear seems to control the way you act in the direst of situations.**

_Alright, alright. I'll have to fix that._

**Later... But first, I need to know, which of the extremes would you rather, hot or cold?**

_Well, I kind of have a very high tolerance for heat but I still like winter more than Summer. At least I get to wear a coat. So I'm going to have to choose cold._

**Got it. Now, you just have to answer one last question, then we can wrap up here.**

_What?_

**Which of these forms do you which to take?**

_Umm... That one, I guess._

**This? Are you sure? What about this one? It leaks trash and-**

_Seriously? Why would I want to take the form of a bag of garbage? It literally- you know what? Nevermind. Whatever._

**But could you just explain why you want this one? I mean, why walk on two legs when you can walk on four?**

_Because it's on fire!_

**But during rainstorms-**

_It. Turns. Into. A. Dragon._

**But what about this one?**

_Stop trying to convince me! It's not going to work?_

**But I thought...** **Never mind.**

_Whatever... Well... What now?_

**Wait! I nearly forgot! So before you go, I'm supposed to give you this item. It'll help you with something in the future... Whenever that may be.**

_Wow... Thanks a lot for not knowing anything._

**Was that sarcasm?**

_No! Yes! Whatever. Both! Just... Just ignore what I just said. What now?_

**To be honest, it looks like you're ready to go. I'm going to have to erase all of your memories... But you will retain a memory of this photo of your future companion. You must find him.**

And all of a sudden, his mind drew a blank. Who was he talking to? Was he talking to someone? Who was he?

Without a moment more to think about his predicament, the world faded into darkness, but a single thought remained.

...

Who am I?

* * *

_MasterOvGravity Presents..._

_..._

**Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Rift in Time**


	2. Chapter 1 - Lizard of Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story begins.  
> A lone Charmander lies unconscious in an icy cavern. A Squirtle traverses the caverns for reasons unbeknownst to anyone but himself. An overly-eccentric Bulbasaur meets his hero and embarks on a quest. An Empoleon tries to find the lost son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm crossposting on fanfiction.net as well, so formatting might be a bit shaky. I also just started posting here, so this story is going to be a bit fresher than regular, so that's great? Go check my story out on FFN too so I can get that one back on its feet too.

**Chapter 1**

**~(E)~**

A lone silhouette trudged through the snow late that night. Being an evolved Pokémon didn't help the fact that it was freezing in the icy region he was currently exploring. The Empoleon sighed, tired. Instead of resting, he trudged onwards. He had to find that Squirtle. There was no telling how far that Pokemon would have gotten with a headstart like that.

The emperor Pokemon groaned in frustration. He needed to find that kid and bring him back. Even he was barely holding out in the cold. His stubby, webbed feet moved sluggishly through the snow. He was tiring. It was normal, especially since he hadn't eaten for a couple of days.

The kid was tough. Definitely. Especially to be holding out in such a storm. He turned his flippers to steel to help against the cold. It didn't help much. He was still cold.

The penguin squinted. Had he already reached the nearest Ampharos lighthouse? It felt like he had been walking for miles but he probably wasn't even close to reaching the halfway mark of this frosty wasteland.

He passed a small village of about a dozen Weaviles and Piloswines. It wasn't all that small, but it wasn't exactly big either. It was moderately sized, with low-lying houses and a couple of tiny fishing holes scattered randomly around the area.

They greeted him and he did the same. After a few minutes of discussion, the small community confirmed that a Squirtle did, in fact, stumble through their village towards a nearby cave. He thanked them and continued onwards.

He was just about to enter the cave when he heard a familiar voice call out to him," Hey! Where have you been?"

He turned to face the Scyther," I'm looking for that Squirtle. He escaped."

"Seriously?" The Scyther frowned, confused," How? We had that new Ursaring guarding-"

"Beast. His name is beast." The penguin Pokémon murmured, interrupting his Scyther friend," And I found him unconscious next to a shattered plate. Look's like the Squirtle isn't stupid."

"Great." The Scyther grimaced, landing on the ground," So now you're looking for him?"

"Yep..." He sighed, resigned," And I bet you want to come with me. Right?"

"You've basically got it down." The Scyther chuckled slightly," So should we get going?"

Shivering, he stumbled towards the cave with the steadily growing light," Sure. It's not like we've got anything better to do anyway..."

The Scyther grinned. It was nice having friends to watch his back.

"Hey," The Empoleon chortled as they ventured into the cave, a sound foreign in the howling winds of the tundra," I'm glad you're with me."

* * *

**~(S)~**

Peace was a luxury.

So was warmth, hospitality and good food.

His vision was blurry and mangled. He was pretty sure that this only happened in the heat, but he guessed it was probably because he was starving and hadn't eaten for days.

_Maybe coming here was a bad idea... What if he doesn't arrive?_

The Squirtle keeled over in the ice-ridden cave as his feeble legs gave way and he collapsed onto the cold icy floor.

 _'It feels kind of warm, actually...'_ The Squirtle thought to himself,' _Wait a minute..._ '

He looked up and came face to face with a sleeping Charmander...

 _In the cold?_ He thought _, What is a fire Pokémon doing here in such a cold environment?_

"Hello?" The Squirtle inquired," Are you okay?"

The Charmander didn't reply. Its breathing was shallow and uneven.

"Oh god..." Squirtle gulped to himself," Hey... I'm going to find something to help you, okay? Don't move... If you can."

The blue Pokémon stumbled away, desperately trying to keep himself awake. If only he could just find some food.

 _I can't save it unless I save myself first,_ He reasoned with himself before his conscience chimed in _, You're being selfish!_

He stopped thinking about his hunger after that and worked in silence, his mind occupied by random things, like what the difference between stalactites and stalagmites was.

At one point the Squirtle thought he saw an Oran Berry, but it was just a trick of the light, which was getting farther away as he desperately ventured deeper into the cave, searching for food.

The cave was coated in ice and didn't seem to be home to any Pokémon. _Strange. The only places where wild Pokémon don't live are in- wait... There's no way. Huh... It's probably just abandoned._

Then, he tripped over something. He struggled to stand afterwards but soon found a sign labelled 'dungeon ahead.'

He then collapsed and sat down in exhaustion to think.

 _It looks dark..._ He thought before remembering the faint fire on the Charmander's tail, _Hmm..._

The Squirtle picked up the sign and blundered around back to the unconscious Charmander.

He then spent an uncertain amount of time attempting to light the sign using the Charmander's tail.

After countless attempts, the sign caught on fire and Squirtle grinned," Nice..."

He turned to the unconscious Charmander who was slowly dying in the cold.

 _What do I do with him?_ The Squirtle reflected, _Ah... Wait... Damn it, Arceus! Why do you have to do this to me?_

He poked the Charmander with the burning sign before sighing and just flinging the whole thing on him. His body then became engulfed in flames.

"Come on!" The shelled Pokémon chanted urgently," Wake up!"

If the lizard heard him, it didn't show it. It lay motionless. He tried poking it. It didn't react.

The Squirtle's stomach growled.

 _Damn,_ He thought, _I'm going to starve to death by the time he wakes up..._

He didn't want to die, that was for sure. Plus, it was probably better for one of them to die than both of them. Hell! For all he knew, that Charmander might have been there to commit suicide. Plus, he really didn't want to die so soon. So maybe he was being _a_ _bit_ selfish, but could you really blame him? Of all things, he was being selfless. He had tried to save the Charmander, but what he tried wasn't effective and didn't work, and now he was too weak to try again.

He staggered away from the Charmander and turned to face him one more time and whispered to no one in particular," Sorry"

The Squirtle staggered around on towards the dungeon. His head felt as if it were full of empty air and pure stupidity. He stumbled onto the first floor of the dungeon and immediately found a pile of berries sitting next to a Snorunt nest. His hunger intensified at the sight of food. Not wasting a single second, he slowly walked over to the berries and snatched one and bolted.

He instantly inhaled the berry and sighed contently, but he wanted more. He completely forgot about the Charmander. He wasn't dying of hunger anymore, but he wanted more.

He turned back, the possibility of food tantalising and close. He sighed once more before staggering back towards the dungeon while muttering to himself again," I hope they saved enough to-"

He was hit in the head by an Empoleon, who looked down on him and muttered," Smart kid... He's definitely Blastoise's."

His consciousness faded as he heard another voice exclaiming something about a dying Charmander.

* * *

**~(C)~**

The Charmander awoke with a jolt, staring at a completely white roof.

 _Where am I? He thought._ He tried to sit up but found that he didn't have enough strength to do so, and instead turned sideways and came face to face with an unconscious Squirtle.

"OH MY GOD!" He exclaimed," WHAT THE HELL IS _THAT_?"

The Charmander rolled sideways on the bed he was laying on in surprise and tumbled off of it, falling off with a loud 'OOF' and waking up the Squirtle.

"W-what-what just happened?" It groaned, rubbing its head in pain. There was a purple-ish bruise there.

"Oww!" The blue turtle winced as it reaches up to rub his head and brought his hand back down quickly to check if his head was bleeding. It wasn't, but that was a normal response to pain.

Throughout all of this, the Charmander remained quiet, unnoticed by the Squirtle. He tried crawling away, but the Squirtle caught sight of something moving out of the corner of his eye, and focused on it," Wait... Y-you're-"

"W-wait a second..." The Charmander stated, reaching his hand as if to keep away the talking creature. He flailed his hand, but he couldn't help but notice that there was something different about them...

 _Wait..._ He thought to himself

"OH MY GOD MY HAND! WHERE DID ALL MY FINGERS GO?" He yelled out, flailing around like an idiot.

"A-are you al-alright?" The Squirtle asked, stumbling backwards and stuttering on his words.

The Charmander grimaced," If being turned into a creature with orange hands and only three fingers-"

"Charmander. You're a Charmander. Also, are you suffering from memory loss?" The Squirtle joked awkwardly.

"Uh, yes. Well, no. Yes but not in the way you believe. I definitely don't remember being a Charmander or any other on..."

"Pokémon?" The Squirtle offered.

"Uh... Yeah... A Pokémon." The lizard murmured," I don't remember ever being one of those. In fact, I was actually a human, so if you could-"

"Wait... You think you're a human? Huh..." The Squirtle trailed off.

"Yeah?" The Charmander asked.

"What's your name, Charmander?" He replied.

"I don't... I don't exactly remember..." He answered uncertainly.

The Squirtle looked at him, clearly unconvinced," Okay, look. I've humoured you and listened to your nonsense, but I was hoping you'd stop making things up by now. Come on, man! There have been hundreds of Pokémon who pretended to be humans just for attention. I can't even remember the last time an actual human showed up here. Now drop the act!"

"I'm not acting!" The lizard defended himself, getting quite agitated himself," I-I can prove it!"

The Squirtle crossed his stubby arms and watched," Sure. Go ahead."

The Charmander then sat at a loss. What could he do to prove he was a human? "Uh... I don't know..."

"See? You don't have any proof! The only peculiar thing is that you were lying there in a cold cave. How you got there is beyond me, but it's really weird..." The shelled Pokémon trailed off.

"Can you take me there?" The Charmander asked.

The Squirtle shrugged, "Eh, whatever. It's not like I have anything else to do. Sure, but first we have to stock up on supplies. I think they have some in this medbay."

"Thanks." The Charmander replied.

They both walked towards a cabinet stocked with supplies, including a blanket which was made of thick wool.

"This'll keep you warm!" The Squirtle cheered, passing the blanket over to the Charmander.

Unsure, the Charmander pointed to another one," I'm going to need that one too."

Exasperated, the turtle Pokémon flung his stubby arms into the air," Sure! Whatever! It isn't as if we're wasting time!"

* * *

**~(S)~**

After the painstakingly long time it took for the duo to prepare the Charmander to make his way through the frosty tundra, they embarked. However, they got about a couple of feet into the desert when the Charmander complained," It's so cold! How much longer?"

Irritated, the blue Pokémon shot him a look that silenced him and trudged onwards, the Charmander reluctantly following him, groaning about how he should have worn something on his feet.

The place they were walking in was just one massive, freezing wasteland, completely devoid of anything else other than the freezing cold storm that never seemed to end.

The Squirtle voiced his thoughts to the Charmander, just as the storm subsided.

"It's definitely cold, but there isn't a storm, otherwise I probably would still be freezing right now..." The Charmander had said. The blue turtle huffed in agitation and kept quiet for a while after that.

After a while, the Charmander decided to speak to the Squirtle - mostly since he wanted to be distracted from his aching legs - and caught up with him," So... What's your name?"

The Squirtle didn't spare a glance and nonchalantly replied," Squirtle."

"But isn't that what your species is?" The Charmander asked, feeling relatively confused.

"Well," Squirtle replied," We usually just go by our species names unless a new Pokémon of the same species shows up. Then, we usually just call the newbie a part of our species name, for example 'Squirt'.

"Oh." The Charmander replied," That's nice! I don't remember mine..."

Squirtle cracked a small smile," Then I'll call you... Uh... Squirt. We'll have matching names!"

"How does that even-whatever. You're very creative." He deadpanned sarcastically," Try another one. You just said it was usually my species name, so just call me-"

"Firey?" Squirtle suggested.

"No." The Charmander rolled his eyes as he walked alongside Squirtle," Listen. I said you should probably call me-!"

Squirtle, who was running out of ideas, tried again," What about... Charmander? Nah-"

"No. Actually... It's pretty good." The Charmander complimented Squirtle, before muttering to yourself," Plus, it's the one I was trying to tell you I wanted for the last minute."

"What?" Squirtle asked, slightly confused," Oh whatever. Well, better get used to the name, Charmander."

Charmander smiled," Sure, Squirtle."

And the two of them kept on walking. Just two Pokémon walking together, one of which with a flaming tail, in a sea of ice.

* * *

**~(B)~**

An ecstatic and energetic Bulbasaur ran from Pokémon, asking them all the same question," Have you seen a Squirtle recently? No? Okay, thanks anyway!"

He rushed to a nearby Ludicolo and asked him," Have you seen a Squirtle recently? You haven't? Oh, that's fine!"

The Bulbasaur kept on repeating this process, constantly racing around town, asking all of the Pokémon in the area

"I've seen a Squirtle!" He heard a voice call out. He instantly turned to the voice, ran towards it, and then immediately stopped, gobsmacked.

Standing before him was none other than the leader of the most famous rescue team in the world and by his side, his co-commander - a Scyther with wickedly sharp scythes on his arms.

Said Empoleon stepped up to him and smiled warmly," Good afternoon, young Bulbasaur. I am-"

"Sir Empoleon the third, heir to the throne and leader of 'The Finders'! Ooh! And you're Scyther, right?"

Scyther grinned toothily," Yep. That would be me."

"My, my..." Empoleon grinned," Someone has done their research. What might your name be?"

"Wow..." The Bulbasaur trailed off and bowed," I'm Bulbasaur, and it's an honour to be in your presence."

Empoleon opened his beak to speak, but was cut off my Bulbasaur quickly adding," By the way, could you maybe sign my bulb? Oh, wait... If you don't mind me asking, what was I talking about again?"

Empoleon gave a hearty laugh and smiled," You were asking about a Squirtle, I believe."

"Oh, yeah... I need to find him. Do you happen to know where he is?" Bulbasaur asked, bouncing around on his four feet.

The emperor Pokémon smirked," I believe he ran off into a tundra along with a Charmander. Actually... Would you like to join me in looking for them?"

"Oh!" The Bulbasaur grinned widely. Words could not describe the feeling of adrenaline and amazement he felt. He'd just been given the opportunity of a lifetime. He felt overwhelmed - so much so that his legs gave way and he started giggling to himself madly.

Bemused, the penguin cracked a faint smile as he casually plucked up the hysterical Bulbasaur, placed him on his shoulder and marched towards the tundra, Scyther flying alongside him.

* * *

**~(C)~**

Icy stalactites littered the cave's ceiling. Those stood out in the cold cavern they wandered in. He felt as if the cave walls were the throat of a beast, and he had just been swallowed. Feeling as if he was going to be crushed, Charmander hurried to a more open section of the cave.

The duo went about half-a-dozen meters into the cave when Squirtle, for some reason, started hyperventilating.

"Are you all right? Oh my god, are you having a heart attack?" He questioned Squirtle, hoping that wasn't the case, however unlikely it seemed. He didn't know if people and Pokémon suffered from similar diseases and the likes.

"Squirtle?" The Squirtle wasn't replying; Charmander gulped and started shaking him frantically," Squirtle? Squirtle!"

 _What if he dies?_ Charmander thought as he continued shaking Squirtle, his paranoia creeping in, _What am I going to do? Where am I supposed to-_

"I'm fine," Squirtle interrupted, pulling Charmander off of him," I'm not going to die or anything."

"Then why were you breathing so heavily?" Charmander questioned, walked deeper into the cave.

Squirtle shrugged," I don't know, actually..."

"Okay." Charmander responded when he felt the atmosphere change.

"Did you... Just... Feel that?" Charmander asked hesitantly.

"Uh..." Squirtle sighed, obviously irritated, as he " Yeah, and I don't like what it means..."

Charmander saw the worry on Squirtle's face and immediately assumed the worst," What? How bad is it?"

"So... There are these things that rescue and explorer teams are usually paid to go into." He almost-inaudibly explained," They're pretty bad. Some Pokémon who enter them never come out, and others are confirmed dead."

"And?" Charmander asked, relatively impatiently," What does that have to do with this?"

"Charmander," Squirtle explained, his face null of any other emotions except fear and worry," I think we're in one."


	3. Chapter 2 - The Mystery Dungeon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charmander and Squirtle explore the mystery dungeon. Bulbasaur, Empoleon and Scyther go after them.

**Chapter 2**

**~(C)~**

**Frosty Caverns 1F**

"What?" Charmander squinted at Squirtle, bewildered, "When did we even enter it?"

Looking blue both figuratively and literally, Squirtle paled, wincing in a way that suggested that he did something wrong as he did so, "They're called Mystery Dungeons, and they're supposed to be very hard to spot. I think that someone might have invented something to detect them, but we don't have one so it wouldn't have mattered anyway. To answer your question, I'm not sure... We could enter one and we'd have no idea until it was too late, unless someone left a visual clue or sign that there was one up ahead."

"And was there?" the orange, bipedal Pokémon questioned his knowledgeable friend.

"There was..." a scarlet blush especially evident against his blue skin, Squirtle gulped, "Until I used it to feed the fire on your tail. I forgot that it had been there until now."

He frowned, pausing for a second before continuing as if the ensuing action were incredibly difficult and demeaning. Meanwhile, Charmander responded, leading to them speaking over each other.

"No problem."

"Sorry."

 _Makes sense..._ Charmander watch as Squirtle fumbled, who looked slightly nervous. _I mean, if a Charmander's tail flame were to go out, then it would die, right? I guess you could say that he saved my life._

"Oh, it's alright..." Charmander trailed off, thoughts swirling, "I-uh... well, what about if we just... _walked_ back out?"

"I mean," He continued before Squirtle could answer, "It's not like it's not an option... and maybe if we just-"

The lizard pivoted around as he spoke, gesturing with his hands before he froze, eyes wide, "You know..."

"Yeah..." Squirtle interjected, trailing off and cutting Charmander's train of thought abruptly, "About that..."

Shaking his head in denial, the fire type turned to the sound of his friend's voice, a question and baffled look both evident on his face, "W-what?"

Squirtle gave him a pitying look, one that was attempting to appear grim yet betraying the amusement written all over his face in permanent marker.

"W-where did it go?" Charmander demanded, desperate to know what in the world was going on.

"Well... in these dungeons, once you enter, you can't leave unless you clear it, or you get knocked out, in which case you're effectively ejected from the dungeon."

Charmander stared at him, despair etched into his face like a chiselled statue.

"However..." The tiny turtle Pokémon said,

"Yes?" Charmander butted in, allowing just a sliver of hope to creep into his voice.

Squirtle continued, "There are these orb things, and if we can find one of them, then we can use one to escape the Mystery Dungeon, but they're kind of hard to find. I think we can do it though."

Doubtful, Charmander eyed Squirtle quizzically," Are you sure?"

"Umm..." Squirtle answered after several lost seconds, uncertainty evident in his eyes," I mean... I'm pretty sure that it is. I've only been in one, so I'm not sure how common the-AH!"

Squirtle leapt backwards in alarm as a Swinub barreled past him.

"Yeah. This is a mystery dungeon." Squirtle answered, spinning around to face his attacker. Unsure of what to do, Charmander stood by idly, one arm over his hastily packed gear defensively, hoping Squirtle had the situation handled, as he was not only unsure of how to react but also of how to defend himself.

Erupting from Squirtle's mouth, a jet of water shot towards the Swinub, narrowly missing it.

"Would you mind helping?" Squirtle spun around to ask Charmander before he went tumbling, the Swinub managing to tackle him to the ground.

Breaking out of his stupor, Charmander hurried over to Squirtle. Not knowing what to do, Charmander resorted to raking his claws across the Swinub's snout, quickly swelling with pride once his claws left the Swinub's snout. He had done it! He had taken down a Pokémon! Charmander was ecstatic. So much so that he didn't notice the Swinub getting up, nor did he notice it charging towards him until it rammed into his gut, sending him flying.

Head spinning and body incapacitated, Charmander could only observe as the Swinub tentatively approached him, its beady eyes carefully watching, not daring to make a move until it was sure that Charmander was unable to defend himself. Squirtle was still recovering, but for the most part, he seemed okay; the blue Pokémon stared expectantly at Charmander as if he expected him to do something. It looked like Charmander was on his own. The Swinub, thinking that it was victorious against the two amateur dungeon explorer, proceeded to rummage through a bag that Charmander had hastily stuffed with supplies for their journey.

"Hey!" Charmander yelled in anger, "Get away from our stuff!"

Struggling to move, he managed to send a small puff of smoke in the Swinub's general direction, momentarily alarming it.

However, the Swinub continued, now consuming the duo's food supply. Berries and deformed tart slices flew left, right and centre. As if it were attempting to taunt Charmander, the Swinub spun around while consuming a tart, leaving Charmander's paralysed body frozen and forcing him to watch as it ravenously gobbled up his sustenance.

Enraged, Charmander's anger and hubris built inside him, a scowl forming on his face as he growled in anticipation as he fantasised over what he would do to the best when he recovered. Those feelings of anger and jealousy manifesting itself into a burning ball of pure hatred. Then, a small ball of fire erupted from his throat and exploded on the Swinub's face, causing it to squeal in pain. It flew back a few feet but was otherwise unharmed. Angered by Charmander, the Swinub spun and a ball of mud was launched at Charmander's face.

"Stop!" He continued, the mud blocking his field of vision, leaving him boiling with rage, wiping his eyes in a desperate attempt to swiftly undo the adverse effects of being blinded by an explosive ball of mud. He attempted to claw at the Pokémon - a futile attempt at its best.

Fortunately, Squirtle finally regained his consciousness and swiped at the Swinub. Squealing, the feral Pokémon

Charmander, unsure of the current state of the Swinub, hesitantly asked, "Uh... is it..."

"Dead?" Squirtle finished his sentence, "No. Just unconscious."

"Oh." The lizard replied shortly.

Not a single word was exchanged between them for the next few hours, the two journeyed deeper into the depths of the dungeon.

"Hey, Squirtle!" Charmander exclaimed excitedly, "What's this?"

Hurriedly, Squirtle stumbled over, wobbling awkwardly as he tried to balance the heavy bag of equipment on his back, "It looks like a staircase. This is our way out of the Mystery Dungeon!"

Charmander nodded, making sure to take notes in case he was ever in such a situation again but said nothing, only following Squirtle down the stairwell.

* * *

**Frosty Caverns 2F**

"So I have a question." Charmander professed, slowing down to match Squirtle's current pace.

"Sure." Squirtle shrugged indifferently, "Shoot."

Scratching his head, Charmander probed his fellow Pokémon, "Why are we heading downwards? Aren't we heading deeper into the ground?"

"Huh..." Squirtle responded, relatively lost himself, "I never thought of that. I mean... mystery dungeons are supposed to be spatial as well as temporal anomalies... so I guess that's why? I honestly don't know."

"That's alright," Charmander waved him off, "I don't expect you to know _everything_!"

Squirtle smirked slightly, "Thanks. Now let's get out of here, shall we?"

Nodding, Charmander replied, a toothy grin framed on his face, "Yeah. Let's go."

Hesitation was key when they spotted any items which were dispersed across the cave floor. Primitive as they were, some wild Pokémon were still intelligent enough to set decent traps. Nothing too sophisticated, but clever enough that some fell for some of the tricks, just as Charmander nearly did the first time. Squirtle, however, had not, and had come to the rescue once again after Charmander had nearly fallen into a pit, the bottom lined with icy stalagmites, each sharpened to the point, ready to impale any unsuspecting victim that happened to come across the trap. They had lost one of their bags there and with it some of their supplies. This prompted Charmander to let Squirtle take the reigns, and instead stay back and watch for more traps carefully, as he fell behind, his eyes dashing around manically whenever they entered a new section of the floor as he let his paranoia consume him.

"Hey, look, another one." Charmander pointed out, frowning slightly.

"Yeah..." Squirtle answered distantly.

"This doesn't seem right." Charmander squinted slightly, spotting a sliver of movement in the corner of his eye, drawing his attention, "It's like..."

"Like what?" Squirtle asked, ever-so-slightly interested in what his companion had to say.

Charmander looked around but the being had disappeared. Still paranoid, Charmander decided to fully involve himself in the conversation, deciding that it showed that he respected Squirtle enough to give him his full attention, "Like... Like something intelligent is making these. I mean, why would there be so many traps everywhere? It's not like a feral Pokémon would make all these, because I'm sorry, but this doesn't seem like something they would do and-"

"It _is_ possible that a wild Pokémon could have done this." Squirtle added unhelpfully.

Charmander frowned, frustrated and uncertain, "Wha-"

"I mean," Squirtle continued, having some trouble explaining. They had stopped walking for no real reason, other than so that they could demonstrate that they were both engaged with the conversation, "It's pretty unlikely that that could happen, but it's entirely possible. I mean, some 'wild' Pokémon" Squirtle made it clear that the word 'wild' was to be considered with a pinch of salt, "Ended up being normal ones like you and me who decided to run away and hide out in a dungeon. Of course, for many of them, their common sense and any form of formality deteriorated along with their sanity after years of living in one."

Charmander - who was getting increasingly confused by what Squirtle was talking about - began to notice that he was getting lightheaded and nauseous, but decided not to comment about it. It wasn't bad anyway. He'd ask Squirtle about it later.

With luck, they would be out soon and his mysterious new friend would be able to help me get back to... wherever he lived.

* * *

**Frosty Caverns 3F**

Onwards, towards... something. Squirtle was heading somewhere, Charmander just wasn't sure where, but he honestly couldn't care less. He didn't want to admit it, but all he cared about was getting back to his old life - Squirtle was nice and he enjoyed his company, but they weren't friends by any means. In another life, he might have wanted to befriend his companion, but they had completely different objectives and goals in their mutually beneficial relationship (at least Charmander thought so since he needed to get back to being a human and Squirtle was seemingly running away from something - home perhaps? - and while Charmander was, granted, slightly concerned, and wondering why he would need to since he didn't see the need to divulge any further, it wasn't any of his business and he wasn't going to just his compatriot just because he feels the need to escape from whatever prison he was living in.).

He worried that perhaps Squirtle thought that he was taking advantage of him, but that couldn't be the case - Squirtle accompanied him on his own accord, and by doing so make a voluntary decision help him as he tried to get back to his old life.

He briefly wondered what his old life before he became a Pokémon was like. Was he just a regular person? A criminal? He didn't know, and he wouldn't until he returned but the more that he mulled it over, the more anxious he became.

What if, the moment he arrived back in the human world, he was arrested for a crime that he committed.

What if he was a scientist working on a secret project to communicate with Pokémon, and him returning meant that all of their research was useless.

"Why?"

Squirtle raised an eyebrow, "Hmm?"

It was a question. He wanted to know what Charmander desired to know, "Why didn't we encounter any more Pokémon in that last floor?"

"Because," Squirtle began, his tone making it clear that the answer was obvious, "They're wild Pokémon. They're unintelligent, and they don't just track explorers, they happen upon them. We didn't see any on the last floor because we weren't unfortunate enough to stumble upon one."

He wanted to say something to Squirtle - ached to. The silence between them was devastating. Charmander had known Squirtle for a little over a day and yet, walking in what should have been comfortable silence ended up being exactly the opposite.

He twiddled his none-opposable-fingers (since he didn't have thumbs) and looked around, observing the cavern around him as he trudged onwards. The make-up of the dungeon was very interesting, as the cavern was made up of multiple floors, each connected by a single rectangular hole that allowed a staircase to connect each expanse, creating an inverted tower of sorts. It was strange, to say the least, what with the natural formation of the multiple floors with the ground being completely levelled, and that was discluding the stairs in their entirety, which were a completely different material to anything within the rest of the dungeon and acted as the only thing bridging together each floor. There was absolutely no way that the formation was a natural occurrence, and from Squirtle's reaction, not an uncommon one either, which begged the question: who was making them?

He was taken from his contemplative state as he noticed his friend growing increasingly indignant, likely from his bad luck, as they kept going down their path, taking only one or two turns as they failed to find anything that was worth their time. He continued observing, their misfortune seeming more and more like a joke to Charmander, who could only watch in amusement as Squirtle lead them both into a dead end.

He tried to refrain from laughing, he really did, but alas, all attempts at preserving Squirtle's dignity fell futile.

The tiny turtle Pokémon groaned loudly in frustration, and in a miniature fit of rage stormed off past Charmander, only to double back and rush towards the rock face in front of him and kick it with all his might, a move that was, in hindsight, probably something Charmander should have stopped, but he stood by, watching in stunned fascination as his friend ran at the jagged rocks that blocked their progress in the direction they were going and, with his left foot, kicked at the wall, the result being a sickening crunch as Squirtle fell onto his back from the momentum he had generated, where he landed on his shell and, awkwardly rocking back and forth on said shell as it spun slightly, squealed in shock, the pain from his likely sprained toe registering seconds later, something that Charmander was made aware of with the help of his deduction skills, which helped him deduce that screaming profanities at the top of your lungs after kicking a wall was likely to hurt just a bit - and the large bruise on his aggravated skin along with his swollen hallux.

"Hey. Are you alright?"

Charmander immediately felt uncomfortable asking since Squirtle certainly didn't look fine, especially with tears pricking at the sides of his friend's face, but it was a reflex, likely a habit from his life as a human that had been carried over to his current one.

Squirtle grimaced and grunted in amusement, "Of course I a-"

He attempted to stand, but immediately fell with an audible 'oof', "Of course I'm not."

Charmander frowned. This made getting out of the dungeon (mostly) unharmed relatively difficult.

"Well that makes things just a _little_ bit more difficult, now doesn't it?"

Squirtle winced at that, his toe throbbing just a little bit more than before, "I-I guess it does."

"How many more floors?" Charmander breathed, moving to help Squirtle reach a standing position while leaning against a rock wall. If there were any more after this then they might-

"I don't know."

Charmander stumbled, "What?"

"I-" Squirtle took a breath, it looked like he was having a panic attack, "I've never been in this dungeon before."

Charmander felt hope - a dangerous emotion he hated himself for feeling. Maybe things would be alright... maybe, just maybe...

Seeing that Charmander wasn't catching on, he continued, "There could be anywhere from one to ten more floors after this one, possibly more. Each dungeon has a different amount of floors, and each one tends to be just like the last."

He realised that he had unconsciously sucked in his breath, "W-We might be stuck here."

And for the second time that day, Charmander felt his heart sink, any previous feelings of hope shattered in an instant into fragments and shards that rained down from above like teardrops from the stars.

* * *

~(B)~

**Frosty Caverns 1F**

"Are you sure that they came this way?" Scyther asked Empoleon as they walked purposefully through the dungeon, looking around as if there was something that they were supposed to be looking for.

Bulbasaur could only watch from afar, staring in awe at his hero. This was all he had ever dreamed of. There were hundreds-no thousands of Pokémon who would _kill_ to be in the position that he was in right now. He should say something, anything. He should introduce himself properly. All he had done was give them his name. He should have included his home address and his birthday. _What was he doing?!_ He couldn't waste this opportunity. He had to do something. He didn't even care what - just something.

At the time, it hadn't fully sunk in just what he was doing, but now it was all coming to him full force, and the shock was explosive. He felt like he was about to burst - like a supercharged Pichu cranked up to a million volts bouncing around in a cage. It felt like he was going to burst, and when he did, he was going to explode. He was on the verge of self-combusting and being completely engulfed in a massive explosion - one that would put even a Turtonator to shame (he didn't know any, but he imagined that if he knew a Turtonator that it wouldn't take too kindly to him combusting for the sake of one-upping him).

He muttered to himself rapidly, thoughts swirling and condensing. Mumbling a storm as he walked, head angled downwards, Bulbasaur was vaguely aware of Empoleon and Scyther turning to stare at him as they walked.

Empoleon... he was just... amazing. He was a symbol, above all others. Bulbasaur recalled countless nights under the cover of the night as his brother told stories of wondrous acts of heroism and doing amazing, impossible things - well at least, they had seemed impossible. He had danced under the stars that night, imagining that he was the unstoppable Empoleon, saving innocent Pokémon from anything and anyone.

And Scyther! The ever-dependable, resourceful and quick-witted second-in-command of 'The Finders', always keeping a cool head, even when Empoleon couldn't. Empoleon had risen to the top, becoming a fan favourite in the rescue, but Scyther had been there with him every step of the way. It was common knowledge that even though Empoleon had taken the world by storm, he wouldn't have even come close if it weren't for the people around him - Scyther included.

He didn't know why he had frozen up.

He remembered staying

He didn't want to do anything to make them uncomfortable - he wanted to make the best first impression possible.

"So..." Bulbasaur's throat went dry.

_Damnit. Why is this happening to me? Just... Say something smart, something witty. Make 'em laugh. Tell 'em a joke - wait no, on second thoughts-_

"Do you guys, like, eat other Pokémon? You know, 'cause you're carnivores..."

_...What?_

He immediately flushed scarlet and promptly froze up, eyes widening as he mumbled a quiet 'just a thought' and descended into a state of complete embarrassment and situational unawareness, forcing his eyes to the ground and clamping his mouth shut.

_What. was. that?_

Bulbasaur gulped, sweating profusely, and lowered his head, wallowing in shame. What the hell? Out of all the things... why does this kind of thing have to happen to him now?

_This adventure is going to be the death of me._

**... ... ...**

"Hey, Empoleon. Take a look at this."

Bulbasaur glanced skywards, over to where Scyther was hovering slightly, Empoleon trudging over to see what he was talking about.

He had previously been lost in his thoughts. Among them were a couple of questions. Questions like: 'Where exactly was Squirtle?' and 'Who is this Charmander that Empoleon is talking about?'.

He still didn't know the answer to either question, but he could already tell that he would probably get at least one answer soon - he could feel it.

Then, he remembered what had happened not even ten minutes ago, and immediately went red in the face.

Instead of indulging himself, he instead decided to look over to see what the two explorers were doing.

Empoleon grimaced, "This... something happened here; a fight occurred here."

Scyther nodded, his wings slowing their movement until they eventually came to a stop and he landed with a small thud, "There are some half-eaten berries nearby. Those might be this little guy's stuff, though. What do you think?"

Empoleon stared at the unconscious Swinub, deep in thought. Bulbasaur observed him as he did so. Empoleon eyes narrowed and he seemed to glare at the Pokémon. He looked so... intense and confident and-

"SWI-" The unconscious Swinub was now very much conscious and leapt up at Empoleon, who stumbled backwards and nimbly twisted to the side, turning to watch the Swinub leap past him in alarm. It looked pretty angry, and there was already some snow gathering near its face as it flew in the air. The snow seemed to become a multitude of snowballs, forming quickly as they swirled around the Swinub, who seemed to be heading towards...

_Oh, wait._

"AH!" Bulbasaur exclaimed, a pair of vines flying out from his bulb to protect him from the incoming impact... or impacts.

"NUB!"

The individual snowballs travelled as a singular unit, all converging upon Bulbasaur. He was powdered by the onslaught and struggled, even with his vines, to defend himself against the hurtling projectiles. He tried his best to manoeuvre his vines around to block every snowball, but the gust of cold wind flew past his vines - they could try but they couldn't block the air as it simply glanced off of each vine and continued on its path - and battered his body, shocking him and forcing his vines back in surprise for just a moment, but that was all they needed. He had dropped his defences and that was all that was needed for the snow to breach his defences and batter his body with a constant stream of snowballs, each heavy and dense. Each collision was like a punch, pushing him backwards and eventually onto the ground, his legs giving out, and even with using his vines to block as many as he could, he was already panicking and he wasn't in control of the situation anymore. He sniffed in defiance and felt something wet slide down his face. Whether it was his blood or his tears, he couldn't tell for sure.

Once the onslaught finally ended, he moved to get up, his vines raised cautiously in the air and his eyes widening as he saw another flurry of snowballs primed for use, about to fly at him, but Empoleon got there first, sliding in front of Bulbasaur with his flipper raised, knees braced, and grunted as he took the attack head-on.

Bulbasaur squinted, unable to discern much in the flurry and squall of snow. He winced and stumbled, eyes watering slightly. He could barely see Empoleon's flipper glowing and turning into steel or Scyther soundlessly fluttering over behind the Swinub, blades raised to-

_Wait a minute._

"Wait, no!"

Bulbasaur's words died on his lips as the decapitated head of the Swinub flew at him, and he stumbled backwards in surprise, eyes wide and vines flying. He swatted the head away, not caring where it ended up, however it seemed that Empoleon didn't like to have a Swinub's face hanging from his beak.

His lunch decided to take the easy way out.

* * *

**Frosty Caverns 2F**

"So..."

Scyther looked up from the map he was drawing.

"Yes?"

Bulbasaur gulped, "Seriously though, what do you guys like to eat?"

Empoleon raised an eyebrow but didn't do anything to reject his question

"I don't know-"

"Well..." Empoleon cut Scyther off, "A healthy serving of fish is vital for the upkeep of my mind and body - especially with my species in general."

Bulbasaur nodded, taking note of his hero's dietary habits on a small notebook hidden in his bulb, as well as a quill and took everything down, nodding and writing furiously, his vine almost smouldering from the speed at which he appraised his hero's lifestyle.

"That's pretty cool. What about you Scyther?"

Bulbasaur sweatdropped when he realised that he had attempted addressing his heroes on a first-name basis. His eyes widened and he was about to apologise when Scyther responded.

"Berries are always welcome and I love spicy berries in particular."

Bulbasaur was already writing furiously before Scyther even got the chance to respond.

Empoleon joined in, "Oh, yes. I thoroughly enjoy having sweet berries whenever the chance presents itself. Pecha berries are probably my favourite - simple and sweet. It's a delectable treat and I never turn down an offer when I receive one.

Nodding to himself, Bulbasaur quickly flipped through the pages, his vines working in tandem to jot down notes and flick the pages back and forth.

Bulbasaur noticed that Scyther spared a knowing glance at Empoleon, who grinned and muttered, "Fans."

He blushed at that, burying himself in his notes and descending into a hurricane of thoughts and drabbles.

**... ... ...**

"We'll rest here." Empoleon breathed, not even the slightest bit tired, but conscious that Bulbasaur had been walking for a while.

The Seed Pokémon in question sighed and instantly felt his legs give out, "Thanks."

Empoleon nodded curtly in return and gently set down his equipment, Scyther doing the same.

Bulbasaur stared at the uneven stone opposite him, a thin layer of ice coating the top of most of the surfaces upon it. The stone itself shone like it had been polished, and yet it retained its rugged, naturally-formed texture.

He let his thoughts wander. He felt a bit out of place right now - there was no denying it. He felt like the odd man out. Empoleon and Scyther had known each other for years, had worked together for years, had trusted each other for years. And yet, here he was, one of many, intruding on the bond that was tempered over many years through hardship, tragedy and brotherhood. They had suffered through many losses together, many close friends and comrades losing their lives for their cause, and had come out of it stronger, closer, unbreakable.

'The Finders' as a group were a collective symbol, inspiring fear in the corrupt and hope in the bright-eyed youth. They had adventured with each other for years and had become an unstoppable force in the process, completely trusting one another. Their senior members - the ones that had been there when the group was initially formed, back when they weren't even recognised as a real rescue team - were even more so. They'd likely give their lives for each other - had given their lives for each other. It was hard for anyone - even the second-rated team - to even begin to compare themselves to the likes of Scyther and Empoleon. Those who had the audacity to often made fools out of themselves - after all, what feat could even begin to measure up to exploits of that calibre?

Somewhere deep in his heart, he knew that he could never hope to reach their level of influence and skill. He knew that no matter how hard he tried, the mark of a hero wasn't something that you could learn to have, it was something that you were born with.

And yet... here he was, prancing around a dungeon (albeit a relatively lower level one), acting as if he was one of them, talking to them like he was one of them, fighting alongside them as if he were one of them.

He felt sick.

What did they think of him? Did they see a spoilt child who demands what he wants and gets it? A reckless fool who couldn't stay out of trouble? A handicap who couldn't do anything except being a burden?

He felt his eyes begin to burn and felt his vision begin to obscure.

So he stopped thinking about it. Pushed any feelings of inadequacy to the back of his mind. He felt an uneasy smile find its way onto his face - he would do it! He'd become a hero, no matter what anybody says. He'd save lives and rescue people just like Empoleon. He just needed to try a little bit harder.

And hold in those feelings just a little bit longer.

* * *

**~(E)~**

Empoleon cast a sidelong glance at Bulbasaur, who was now fast asleep, all tension leaving his body, laying on his side as his tongue lolled - he was drooling.

"Bulbasaur's asleep," Scyther noted.

Empoleon simply nodded in acknowledgement, standing against one of the rock walls, his arm crossed.

"Anything you want to say?" Scyther asked.

Empoleon shook his head slowly, his movements lazy and tired only because he hadn't slept for days.

A few minutes passed in silence. Scyther looked like there was something he wanted to say - _needed_ to say, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

So Empoleon did it for him.

"I've been stressed out recently."

He felt it.

The unspoken tension between them eased away, dissipating into the wind, the pressure around them flying away. Scyther's back straightened, his stance shifted, he cast a sidelong glance at Empoleon. Their eyes met and, for a moment, they just stared, then, Scyther averted his eyes, instead choosing to fixate his gaze on a singular point on the wall opposite to him.

"I know."

Empoleon simply nodded.

So he knew.

"You know," Empoleon smirked to himself, "Bulbasaur's been writing stuff down in that journal of his throughout the journey."

Scyther smiled slightly, "I've noticed."

He noticed that his friend's gaze seemed to linger upon Bulbasaur for a few seconds.

Scyther turned to face him, his smile small but playful, "It's very endearing. He's obsessed with us and our team. He probably wants to be a part of his own rescue team."

Empoleon nodded, his gaze unfocused. He seemed to be content with just staring at Bulbasaur and the pile of equipment they brought with them, "I wonder if he's enrolled in the Youth Development Program."

Scyther hummed, "He probably is - he's full of energy. You know who he reminds me of?"

Empoleon exhaled, "Gliscor? Yeah, we should introduce them sometime."

He knew that probably wouldn't end well - Bulbasaur and Gliscor meeting face to face, that is. He knew that Bulbasaur idolised Pokémon like him and even though that in itself was an unhealthy habit, he knew that some children just needed someone to look up to and to strive to become when times got rough. He didn't wish for any harm to come to Bulbasaur.

Which isn't to say that it wouldn't be fun watching them converse and watching Bulbasaur squirm uncomfortably.

He let out a small chuckle. Scyther, his arms crossed and still sporting a minuscule, amused smile, simply raised an eyebrow. Empoleon didn't blush - he didn't feel the need to be embarrassed, so he shrugged instead.

And just like that, their conversation ended. Empoleon didn't wish to divulge his reasons for being stressed - not at the moment, at least. He knew that Scyther knew that too and silently thanked his winged companion for not pushing the subject.

He sighed to himself. While they were relaxing, the children could be at who knows where.

There was no doubt in his mind - the children had been here.

On the way to the spot that they were currently at, they had encountered a pitfall trap - one that had already been triggered. They had peered down and found one of their bags impaled on a spike, its contents pouring out. Scyther had flown down and retrieved it for them, but the remaining contents were of little use to them.

Nevertheless, they had been there.

And Empoleon was going to find them.

* * *

**Frosty Caverns 3F**

"This is the last floor of this particular dungeon, so keep an eye out for any unusual activity."

He saw Scyther and Bulbasaur nod - they needed to find the two children who wandered off by themselves.

Floor three was an endless series of corridors and dead-ends - at least, it felt like it. They had been wandering the floor for a long time. Too long.

It wouldn't be a stretch to suggest that they were already gone.

But they weren't going to give up - not just yet.

They split up to fan the area (Bulbasaur had stayed with Scyther because he was too young to be wandering off by himself), looking for any clues that could lead them to Squirtle and his friend.

He thought back to his new companion. Bulbasaur was definitely something, that much was for sure. Empoleon wondered whether Bulbasaur's parents knew about him exploring a dungeon, and realised that he kind of just tagged along.

If he got hurt... that probably wouldn't end well.

For Empoleon.

Bulbasaur would most likely be fine. Worst case scenario: Scyther saves Bulbasaur the moment he falls under any real danger and Empoleon has to endure Bulbasaur's distraught parents screeching at him for putting their child in danger. Best case scenario: He convinces Scyther to keep quiet if something of the sort ever happens and he gets away scot-free - except Scyther would never do that. His oldest friend was loyal to a fault, but he would also never pass up a chance to make fun of or humiliate Empoleon.

He stumbled on something and was broken out of his thoughts.

There was a pile of crushed ice and he had tripped over it - next to it were two distinctly different sets of footprints. It definitely wasn't naturally formed, that much as for sure... and that meant...

"Squirtle was here," Empoleon muttered, "And that Charmander too."

Then, he noticed something.

The trail of ice seemed to stretch on, going on for so long that it looked like it round the corner and continued.

Except it didn't just seem like it - it did.

"Guys. Over here."

A few minutes of searching and calling out later, they had all rendezvoused and were now following the ice trail.

Nearly there.

They were close. Empoleon could feel it - they were nearing the end.

And yet... why did it feel like something was wrong?

He wanted them to hurry. His feet fell quicker than it would should he have been walking casually. He noticed Scyther eye him, but neither commented on it. Bulbasaur, meanwhile, was simply oblivious to it all. The pace they were walking at was slow and casual - it shouldn't have been like that but Bulbasaur's presence was all it took. He couldn't scare the boy because of some sense of urgency or danger.

"SQUIRTLE!"

All three adventurers froze, rooted in place by the voice that wasn't theirs.

Empoleon made a gesture with his flipper.

_Quiet._

They all waited. Waited for the disembodied voice of the lost Charmander - or the voice of someone who had got to Squirtle first.

"OVER HERE!"

"This way." Empoleon darted away, beckoning the others to follow. He didn't have look to know that they were right behind him - the sound of Scyther's wings fluttering rapidly told him as much.

They burst forward as a unit, Empoleon leading them down the corridors.

"Scyther," He yelled, "Straight ahead."

He heard a 'hmph' that told him Scyther was on it, and soon Scyther was speeding ahead, his wings letting him move much faster than he was previously able to.

He glanced over his shoulder to see a struggling but determine Bulbasaur. The seed Pokémon was using his vines to move faster than he ever could, grabbing the uneven surfaces of the walls to his sides and slingshotting himself forward.

Empoleon turned a corner - nearly there. His flippers glowed, turning into a shining silver, in anticipation of any surprise attacks or unexpected situations. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bulbasaur enter and stand nervously to the side.

Then, he entered a clearing. It was covered in fog. He could barely see five feet in front of him. He stopped. Trying to navigate the fog was pointless. Instead, he saw Scyther hovering above, "Scyther."

Their eyes met and Scyther simply nodded. Scyther's wings suddenly sped up, the ensuing wind swirling around, a whirlwind forming. This caused the smoke to condense and swirl within it. Then, Scyther spun around it, and, aiming at the hallway that they had just entered from, he slashed, the smoke engulfing the corridor behind them like a wave of darkness.

Empoleon reverted his attention to the opening in front of them - reverted his attention to... bubbles.

All that was left was a few bubbles flying around.

Past that was the dungeon exit.

Empoleon knew where Squirtle and the Charmander were... or where they weren't.

He knew one thing for sure though.

They were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I began this chapter approximately a year ago and only just finished it. I'm great, I know.  
> I have a Wattpad and Fanfiction.net account (not sure if I already mentioned that) and if you want to, go check those out, but I'm only posted this story on FFN and on here since Wattpad's PKMN community isn't very big/prominent.  
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter though.


	4. Chapter 3 - The Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Squirtle and Charmander try to escape the dungeon; Bulbasaur, Empoleon and Scyther are in tight pursuit.

**Chapter 3**

~(S)~

**Frosty Caverns 3F**

_Damnit._

Squirtle was mad. Mad because he felt useless. Mad because he felt useless and weak.

He wasn't much of a leader now, that much was for sure.

He shouldn't be here.

He should be out fighting for what he believes in and letting whether he lives or dies come down to him and only him.

He shouldn't be incapacitated in a corner with an insignificant injury while someone he barely knew risked his life for Squirtle's.

He hated every second that he was forced to sit and wait.

He hated feeling weak and helpless, and he hated having to rely on someone else when he knew he could be doing so much better.

If he could walk they probably would have found the exit by now - but he couldn't

They had both initially thought that he had sprained his toe and Charmander had laughed and said that it was a sign that they should rest.

It turns out that not only was the toe broken but his ankle was too. All because of some stupid rock wall. It was so stupid.

He knew that it was his fault - he had kicked the wall in a spur of frustration and now he had to pay the price. He was frustrated and he tried to let it all out in one fell swoop, but what the hell? He didn't even kick it hard and _his ankle was sprained?_

On top of that, Charmander didn't believe that he could find the exit safely with his minor injuries - as if Charmander would have done any better.

He was crippled by a _wall._ What a joke.

He had seen Charmander's face - he'd taken sidelong glances when he knew Charmander was lost in his thoughts. His companion was laughing at him - he was a joke. Nothing he did was working and his performance was laughable, even Charmander thought so. What was he even doing here? He couldn't even navigate a single low-level dungeon. He didn't even lose to the Pokémon - he lost to his temper.

But he couldn't help but think that Charmander could have been a bit more useful.

Squirtle sighed to himself.

Charmander had - funnily enough - gone off to make himself a bit more useful. He had propped up Squirtle against a wall and they had both spent a while chipping ice and stone off of the walls and floor to make a wall of sorts (it was more like an uncomfortable pile) to help hide Squirtle from wild Pokémon.

Not that he needed help.

Charmander had then gone off to perform some reconnaissance and locate the dungeon exit. He had brought some supplies with him in case he couldn't find his way back. The idea was that he would - hopefully - find the exit and come back to pick Squirtle up, then he would follow Charmander while encountering no feral Pokémon and safely escaping the dungeon.

They decided that Squirtle should probably stay behind in case they needed to run from a particularly strong Pokémon while looking for the exit and it turned out that it ran faster than him.

It was risky sending Charmander off alone - they both knew that - but they needed to or neither of them was likely to survive.

_And I guess I wanted to have some time for me and my thoughts._

Charmander.

He didn't know.

By the looks of things, he was completely clueless. Squirtle had, in the excitement of finding a human-turned-Pokémon, neglected the fact that Charmander was what he was.

Charmander didn't know anything about fire class Pokémon. He knew nothing.

And what was Squirtle supposed to say? That fire class Pokémon virtually went extinct years ago and he's the last of his kind? Of course not.

He had no idea.

When Squirtle thought about it, there was always the possibility that Charmander wasn't a human - at least, at some point - to consider. He might have just been a delusional Charmander who - traumatised by the events that caused most (if not all) fire types to go extinct - had fabricated a story as a defence mechanism.

Although... it was hard to believe that Charmander was lying or even delusional. He didn't seem crazy - though they usually never did.

Nevertheless, Squirtle knew that his companion would have had to have been a very powerful, smart or lucky Pokémon to survive while all others didn't, and - no offence to his only friend - Charmander didn't seem like a very powerful or bright Pokémon. He didn't strike him as lucky either. His survival was as mysterious as the existence of humans themselves, both seemingly unreal and fabricated myths for children... and yet, Squirtle had a feeling. He had a feeling that Charmander was important - other than because of his race - to the rest of the Pokémon world in some way.

And he was going to find out how.

As well as that, he knew that Charmander had said what he had with absolute certainty and conviction - Charmander seemed to believe in what he had said, and so would Squirtle.

He wanted to believe Charmander - he did - but there were always factors to consider. _Unpredictable_ factors to consider.

But the worst part? That he wasn't sure if the unpredictable factor was some omnipresent being or uncontrollable factor... or if it was the everpresent enigma, a newly introduced variable in a world of predictable ones: Charmander.

* * *

~(C)~

_Where am I?_

Charmander was lost.

He had been looking for the exit but had ended up going around in circles with no idea of where he was going.

He sighed and decided to take a break. Placing his bag on the ground and grabbing an Oran Berry from it, he studied his surroundings. He had tried making scorch marks on the ground but he found that he'd tire rather quickly if he did.

He stared at his claws. He had three on either hand (was it a hand?). He felt like they should be more useful than he was making them out to be, but he couldn't imagine his claws being more helpful than his ability to spit out fire.

Nevertheless, he might as well try to see what it can do. Finishing his Oran Berry, Charmander walked towards a wall and inhaled. This might hurt a little.

He swiped at the icy face, growling as he did so. The impact pushed him backwards, and he stumbled to regain his footing and stared at his claws. Not a scratch. Then, he looked to his handiwork - several shards of ice had fallen to the ground. As it turned out, his claws were of some use after all - but he'd probably stick to the fire nonetheless.

He had an idea, and collected the ice shards, breaking some more stalagmites and moving on once he was satisfied with how many he had.

Choosing to walk in one direction, he picked an ice shard from his bag and dropped them every few seconds. He looked behind him - there was a clear trail that lay behind him.

The idea was that the ice shards would be used to easily find his way back from the dungeon exit. The hope was that he would find the exit and come back to pick Squirtle up, then they would follow the ice trail Charmander left behind and safely escaping the dungeon.

He regretted not doing it from the start to easily find his way back to Squirtle, but he couldn't change the past - so he just had to keep going and not look back.

He continued onwards, noticing that there was a smell wafting from somewhere else on the dungeon.

Following his nose, he realised that the smell was getting significantly closer, so he rushed over to an opening.

There! Right at the end of the opening on the right-hand side: the stairs.

He trudged forward and inspected the stairs, careful not to get too close in case of the repercussions of accidentally leaving the floor - something told him that Squirtle wouldn't like that.

Nearby, there was a pile of berries. He grinned to himself. Grabbing one, he bit down.

_Delicious._

His situation was one of pure luck and convenience, he couldn't let the opportunity pass.

Grabbing two berries, he swiftly slid them into his bag and turned on his heel, ready to race out.

A grin tugged at his mouth; things were finally starting to go his way.

He rounded another corner and found the end of his ice trail. Now, he'd have to find his way back and leave ice crystals to connect the two points.

A few minutes and a couple of dead-ends later, Charmander stumbled across a large room. Within the large room were dozens of things littering the dungeon floor. He couldn't tell what exactly they were, there were things there that he wasn't even remotely familiar with and he'd have to get closer to tell what there was that he _was_ familiar with.

The thing was... that the entire room was teeming with Pokémon - there were dozens.

It may have been massive, but there were more than enough hostile, currently-sleeping-but-ready-to-commit-genocide-in-an-instant Pokémon. He weighed his options for just a second but quickly realised that he probably wasn't going to win this fight.

He stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet.

Charmander stayed suspended in his state of disequilibrium for a few moments, his arms windmilling for as he struggled to right himself, ultimately failing as he fell, his fall being silenced by the squashing of the multiple berries in his bag. He shivered - the juice from the berries was soaking out of the bag and he was now lying in them.

Pokémon was stirring, and Charmander didn't want to be there when they did.

He turned tail and immediately bolted down the corridor with reckless abandon, his ice trail forgotten as he rounded corners and skidded across slippery surfaces in an attempt to break away from the massive horde behind him.

His heart pounding, he finally tired and stopped in the middle of a room, panting in an attempt to catch his breath. That was nearly a complete massacre. Luckily, he had managed to partially diffuse the situation. There was no doubt in his mind that there would be a few Pokémon who'd probably go after him or at least attempt to, but he had at least shaken off the bulk of his pursuers.

He had just lowered his guard when he heard light footfalls from behind. He spun around just in time to see multiple Pokémon enter the room - he could see a few Swinub and a Cubchoo. This was going to get rough.

He shoved off his backpack and tossed it aside, rolling his shoulders as he grinned to himself.

Charmander watched warily as the Pokémon rushed at him as a single unit. He backed away, waiting for one of them to break away from the main group so that he could take them out, but he didn't have much luck.

Instead, he attempted to force them apart. He contracted the muscles around his throat and focused on retrieving the feeling that he had had before, a burning sensation building in his gullet. The Pokémon were getting closer. They would be upon him soon but Charmander felt no anxiety for that because he was ready.

He unhinged his jaw and let loose a blazing ball of fire which cut right down the middle of the horde, landing a solid hit on a Swinub which squeaked in pain. The rest fled from the point of impact and split. All of the wild Pokémon were disoriented and frightened by the fire-breathing lizard. Realising that this was his chance, Charmander rushed at a nearby Swinub which had scrambled past him and separated itself from the rest.

Charmander growled and raked his claws across its hide. They glinted for a second before burying themselves in the Swinub's flesh. With little effort, Charmander forced his claws the rest of the way and flung the Swinub back. The wound was only superficial - it wouldn't cause any serious damage.

The lizard Pokémon rushed at the incapacitated Pokémon and scratched it again, landing another blow that did little to hurt the Swinub but managed to fling it into a wall where it collapsed and seized moving.

His satisfaction was short-lived, however, as a Swinub launched itself onto his back and attempted to topple him over. Charmander struggled, but couldn't get the pig Pokémon off of him. He grunted in frustration and back against a wall, ramming himself against it in an attempt to force the Swinub off of him. Ultimately, he couldn't do so and found that he had a different problem at hand.

Another Swinub was upon him. It leapt at him and tackled him to the ground. The Swinub clambering on top of him took the brunt of the damage from the fall, squealing in pain, but it didn't let go, instead opting to tighten its grip, its claws digging into his flesh.

Charmander scowled and quickly produced another fireball. It flew skywards and hit the ceiling, failing to hit any Pokémon, but managing to scare the two Swinub around him away.

Wisps of smoke emanated around him, the rest of his foes backing away in apprehension - for that, he was grateful.

The orange lizard crawled backwards until his back was against a wall, and brought himself to his feet. The feral Pokémon in the room was wary now, fearful of his power, but he knew that if they tried, they could easily overwhelm him and force him into submission.

He saw more enter the room from where he had come from. It was as if the amount of wild Pokémon was endless - a Swinub, a Vanillite, a Piloswine. What had he gotten himself into?

He was going to die if he stayed, but he didn't know how he was supposed to get out without them following him.

He prepared another fireball, smoke starting to leak from his mouth when he had an idea. Instead of releasing it, he let the fireball simmer in his mouth, letting the bitter taste of smoke fill his gullet. It was intoxicating. When he felt that there was enough, he opened his mouth, releasing smoke into the room.

He hacked and coughed (the attempt had been hard on him), watching his handiwork.

The thick smog covered the room, and the rest of the Pokémon, who all looked confused and fearful, simply backed away and tried to stay as far away from the smoke as possible.

Seizing the opportunity, Charmander turned and bolted.

Afterwards, he realised: he had forgotten his bag.

In the heat of the moment, he had completely forgotten about the bag of supplies, instead opting to swiftly exit from the room.

He thought back to the debacle mere minutes before. He had nearly lost his life facing off against them, and he had barely managed to hurt any of them. Of course, he was already at a disadvantage, however, that was inexcusable.

Charmander realised that his recklessness might eventually cost both him and Squirtle their lives if they encountered the growing swarm again. The worst part was that regardless of if they encountered a group or even a single Pokémon, he wasn't sure if he could protect Squirtle from the onslaught while also keeping the wild Pokémon occupied.

Of course, he didn't care much for the bag. It had meant little to him anyway, and the supplies were easily replaceable. Instead, he spent his time chipping away at the walls to replenish his supply of ice and continue on his way - Squirtle was waiting, after all.

* * *

~(S)~

They were back on the road.

Charmander had returned, and he had recounted his adventure back while they made their way to the stairs. Squirtle couldn't lie - he was envious of his friend.

Of course, Squirtle was endlessly relieved that his friend had returned (mostly) unharmed, albeit without his supplies, however, he couldn't help but feel jealous of what his friend had gotten to go through. Squirtle had wanted to be the hero - he had wanted to be the hero to his own story. Squirtle knew that he could, he had the ability and the potential to be the best, so why didn't the world let him prove himself?

Squirtle wasn't arrogant enough to think that he was perfect, that he was above injury, but he believed that if he were in Charmander's place and if his ankle hadn't been broken, he would have gotten out of the situation Charmander had experienced unharmed. He wouldn't have run - Squirtle believed that he wouldn't have needed to. He believed that he would have taken down every single wild Pokémon and would have done so while carrying Charmander with him.

He didn't need help.

He was a prodigy. He was a genius. He was a leader.

He needed to be.

Or else.

"Squirtle."

Squirtle blinked, brought out of his musings as Charmander nudged him, "Yes?"

Charmander smiled, "We're almost there."

Squirtle simply nodded solemnly. They would be fine. Now that Squirtle was with him, Charmander wouldn't need to run or fight or get hurt, because Squirtle would handle all their problems. Squirtle would carry the weight of the world and he wouldn't even flinch - he needed to be able to do so, otherwise, he wouldn't survive if he tried to return home.

"Charmander."

"Yep?"

Squirtle's expression hardened, "Do you think that you had people who cared about you back home? Like really cared? Maybe a family member or significant other?"

Charmander seemed to fall silent, his footfalls heavy and rhythmic. The air around them seemed to grow heavier. Eventually, Charmander just shrugged indifferently, "I don't know... maybe. Hopefully."

Charmander didn't elaborate further, and Squirtle got the feeling that he either didn't know or didn't want to talk about it. Either way, Squirtle wasn't going to get a straight answer, so he dropped the matter entirely.

Silence reigned.

Squirtle limped behind Charmander as the tailed-Pokémon guided him through the floor, although Squirtle was having the slightest of a hard time keeping up - not that Squirtle would ever admit such a thing.

Sometime later, Charmander stopped Squirtle abruptly, nearly causing him to fall over.

"Wh-"

Squirtle began to voice his irritation when Charmander smacked him across the face.

Beyond annoyed, Squirtle scowled and glared at Charmander.

His companion's eyes were wide in surprise.

"O-oh, sorry," Charmander whispered, "I was trying to make you stop talking. There are sleeping Pokémon in that room"

Charmander gestured to the room that they were about to enter and Squirtle cautiously peered in. As the lizard Pokémon had noted, there were perhaps half a dozen Pokémon dotted around the large room.

Squirtle felt a nasty grin creep up onto his face, which he suppressed along with his impulsive urge to dash at them and wreck the entire bunch.

He made to enter it, however, Charmander grabbed his arm and forced him out of the room.

Squirtle snarled at Charmander, but the latter only shook his head in disapproval.

Squirtle hesitated. His desire to prove himself and relieve himself of his zeal for violence. He bit his tongue and felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

He glared into Charmander's eyes, only breaking his gaze when he realised how disillusioned Charmander likely was by Squirtle's personality, which greatly differed from how he attempted to portray himself previously.

Of course, he kept his gaze hardened as he turned away and followed the ice trail, feeling his frustration building as he staggered and nearly fell, forgetting his sprained ankle as he caught himself using it. He felt tears prick his eyes, but ignored them and kept moving.

_Show no weakness._

He bit his tongue once again, tasting blood, relishing the feeling as he buried his feelings of shame under pain and adrenaline.

_Keep moving._

He clenched his fists and continued in silence.

**... ... ...**

Charmander's pace quickened.

It wasn't by much but in Squirtle's current state, even a slight change in how quickly he had to move to keep up with his companion meant significantly more effort from him.

He knew what this meant.

They were close.

Squirtle felt himself smile despite his current situation. They were nearly there. The final stretch.

There was just one problem.

They had nowhere to go once they left the dungeon. If they headed towards a nearby town, he'd likely be found, and Charmander would be at risk too.

Perhaps they could try their luck on their own. Brave the wilderness and never look back, however it was likely that they'd be no match for the elements and they'd eventually succumb to the harsh conditions.

He shook his head and cleared his thoughts. First, they'd escape. He could worry about the future when it became the present.

With his condition, their pace had staggered significantly, meaning that if they had pursuers (which they most likely did), they'd be significantly closer to them than they had been beforehand.

What that meant was that they'd have to be ready for confrontation on the chance that they were found.

He rounded the corner and jumped in surprise.

It looked like they had finally found the stairs, however, it looked like a large Beartic had also gotten very comfortable at the foot of the stairs.

Charmander looked to Squirtle, who was already rearing to go, his eagerness to fight and prove himself on full display even in his weakened state.

Charmander huffed, a small line of smoke flowing out of his nose, his mouth forming a straight line, "You ready to test our luck?"

Squirtle hummed in acknowledgement, "Hmph! We don't need luck. Let's just get this over with."

Simply nodding, his comrade seemed to stare down the Beartic before dashing forward with a quick, "cover me."

Squirtle did just that, inhaling and holding his breath for a second before sending a high-pressure jet of water at the Beartic, who did little to evade or block the projectile, instead choosing to let it hit him with no resistance and tanking the hit with little-to-no reaction - the Beartic was focused on the charging Charmander.

Squirtle seized the opportunity, making a wide arc around the Beartic to surprise it while Charmander led the frontal assault. He began by slowing edging his way across, but eventually bursting into a sprint once it became clear that at that rate his efforts (and even after speeding up, may have still been) would be completely useless.

Charmander clashed with the Beartic head-on, their claws clashing in a barrage of blows and parries. Charmander was landing just as many hits as Beartic was - more, even - however, it was clear that he was getting quickly overwhelmed.

Squirtle acted on instinct, attempted to fire a stream of water at Beartic to stop it in its tracks, but making an arc instead due to his constant movement. The arc itself went wide, the majority finding their mark, however, it was at the wrong Pokémon.

Charmander yelped in shock as the water splashed across his back, and Squirtle's heart skipped a beat. In his shock, Charmander froze and was hit by a sweeping blow from the Beartic. Charmander went flying, crying out as he crashed against a wall. Squirtle wasn't sure if he was conscious or not.

Or alive.

The tiny turtle Pokémon turned back to see a disoriented Beartic who was trying to wipe its eyes - maybe the water had temporarily blinded it.

He should have rushed it and forced it back. It was in a weakened state, so Squirtle should have been able to easily disable his foe, but for some reason, his body wouldn't move.

His heart was beating at a mile an hour. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

And yet, he was rooted in place.

Squirtle's breathing quickened. He felt chills running up and down his body. He felt himself grow hot in fear as sweat dripped down the side of his face.

Charmander was watching. Watching him quiver in fear. Watching him make a fool of himself.

Watching him fail.

He could only watch as Charmander dashed in front of him, skidding to a stop, his friend's maw emanating smoke - Charmander was going to try to fire a fireball at the behemoth.

Squirtle wanted to tell Charmander to stop, that fighting back would be useless, that he couldn't do it, but he didn't.

He couldn't.

Squirtle watched, rooted in place, as Charmander unhinged his jaw, shooting out... smoke?

Copious amounts of smoke left Charmander's mouth, billowing and spreading around them. The Beartic had stopped, wary of the rising cloud of smoke.

Squirtle felt completely out of the loop. When did Charmander learn this technique? He must have done so while looking for the dungeon exit.

He tried to look around for Charmander, but couldn't see in the smokescreen. He coughed as he staggered around, waving his arms in an attempt to clear the area around him, to no avail.

He squinted, trying to look for signs of Charmander, but he found none.

"SQUIRTLE!"

He turned to the sound of the voice, heart pounding. He came face to face with the Beartic. Beyond frightened, Squirtle released a cluster of bubbles that caused Beartic to stumbled backwards slightly but otherwise leaving it undeterred.

He dodged under a swipe and fired a stream of water. It hit the Beartic in the face and forced it backwards.

He scrambled around the cave floor, sending jet of water after jet of water, desperate to live.

Nothing he was doing, however, was working. His attacks were weak and had little force behind them. Luckily for him, a puddle of water had formed and the Beartic slipped and fallen backwards.

"OVER HERE!"

He spun around to the direction the voice had come from, noticing a small, faint light that must have been Charmander's tail flame. He ran towards him, hearing footsteps and the sound of wings fluttering. It looked like more Pokémon had noticed their scuffle that they had hoped. Squirtle felt his movements speed up, but his leg felt like lead. It hadn't healed yet and Squirtle could only wince as he stumbled forward, trying to get to the exit.

_Faster._

He could see it now. Charmander was standing to the side, ready to follow after him. He burst into a sprint, completely disregarding his broken ankle as he moved to reach the exit.

_Faster._

He was right at the exit. Charmander grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled him the rest of the way through.

He was greeted by snow.

* * *

~(E)~

Empoleon was already on the move.

The Charmander and Squirtle had come through this way, he was sure of that, and now they were out. He was closer than ever. For all he knew, they could be right outside the dungeon.

That being said, he didn't want to get his hopes up. Focus. That's, what he needed. Anything could go wrong at any given moment - it probably would - and he needed to be prepared for when it did.

Even before he heard the sound of wings fluttering, he instinctively knew that Scyther was right behind him. He instead turned to Bulbasaur, giving him a reassuring nod which was reciprocated by one of hesitant certainty, and descended the stairs.

* * *

**Icy Tundra**

Empoleon was met by a never-ending wave of sleet. He raised a single flipper to shield his eyes from the blizzard and attempted to get his bearings. With his limited range of vision and what was visible consisting of snow, snow and more snow, it sufficed to say that he was lost. He likely hadn't gone far from the Mystery Dungeon's entrance, but with no landmarks, no outstanding or unique geographical features, and no visibility to base his location off of, it wouldn't be a longshot to say that wandering off now could only result in bad things.

It seemed that Squirtle and the Charmander were gone now. Wandering off after them wouldn't do them any good, seeing as they could have gone in any direction. It would be better to set up camp and wait out the storm.

Scyther and Bulbasaur had both gotten out of the Mystery Dungeon at this point. He shared his suggestion, which they agreed with, and after a little trouble, some labour, and extensive aid from Bulbasaur's vines (because they weren't necessary, but made building an igloo endlessly easier), they were situated in a small igloo, huddled in a circle. The effects of the cold were most evident in Bulbasaur, who had likely never been in such an environment for more than a couple hours. The fact that they had to share their two blankets probably didn't help much.

Not long after they got settled, Scyther passed on using a blanket and gave his to Bulbasaur, which Empoleon did as well. Bulbasaur looked like he wanted to say something - maybe he wanted to insist they all share - but quickly relaxed and settled into the pile he was already partially submerged in.

All they could do was sit and wait. Squirtle and the Charmander were slipping through his fingers, getting farther and farther away. He could easily make his way through the snowstorm, if he knew which way was to the nearest village, that is. He wasn't sure if Scyther would be able to, especially since he might not be able to fly as easily in such a heavy storm, but he was completely sure that Bulbasaur couldn't. Empoleon briefly considered going off on his own, then quickly dismissed the idea - if he went the wrong way now he'd be even more lost than he already was if that was even possible.

So close.

"The moment this storm lets up," Empoleon announced lowly, "We're going to have a lot of ground to cover if we want to intercept Squirtle."

"And his friend," Bulbasaur muttered. Empoleon hummed thoughtfully.

Scyther sighed, "How are we supposed to figure out which way they went?"

Empoleon shrugged, "I'm not sure."

"The tracks will be covered by the snow, so that means that we have no way of knowing which way they went."

Empoleon nodded once again, "I know."

"They're probably going to get away."

Empoleon stayed silent for a moment.

_What were they going to do?_

He nodded.

**... ... ...**

They stirred when an explosion shook the foundations of the igloo.

The blizzard was still going strong, and Bulbasaur immediately shivered when they exited the igloo, but the possibility of the igloo collapsing in on them was too great of a risk to bear.

They had no way to tell how long they had been inside the hut. They didn't know when the blizzard would subside either. It was entirely possible (and likely) that they had wasted their time in waiting for the blizzard to subside, but they couldn't change that now.

They could just build another igloo and wait, but the explosion was something that they couldn't simply ignore. For all they knew, Squirtle and the Charmander may have been connected to it. The best thing to do would be to go in the direction of the explosion and hope that it led them somewhere, but that was wishful thinking. At best, they'd be lead towards a clue denoting where Squirtle and the Charmander where - after all, the two were trying to actively avoid their pursuers.

Empoleon led the group, with Bulbasaur close behind him and Scyther bringing up the rear.

"Bulbasaur," He muttered.

Bulbasaur stirred under the attention he was receiving, "Yes?"

Empoleon slowed slightly so that he was now beside Bulbasaur, "How are you feeling?"

"Good, actually," Bulbasaur said, "This was really fun. Do you think we can do this again sometime?"

Empoleon faltered slightly, pausing in his step momentarily, but he recovered quickly, "We'll see. It depends on whether you can get permission from your parents,"

Bulbasaur grinned at him, "I'm sure my parents would let me if I told them you'd be taking care of me."

Nodding, Empoleon turned to face their destination, which was... somewhere in the general vicinity. They had to move quickly now. Regardless of whether they were going the correct way, the quicker they found something of significance, the quicker they'd be able to pinpoint Squirtle and the Charmander's location - or at least rule out certain places where they aren't.

They finally came across something several minutes later.

Up ahead was a growing silhouette - was it Squirtle? Likely not. He'd probably still be with the Charmander.

"Hello?" Empoleon called out at the growing silhouette. He motioned for Squirtle and Scyther to stop.

The figure remained silent. In response, Empoleon's stance changed so that one left was behind the other - ready to leap at the figure at a moment's notice - and one of his flippers glowed a glimmering silver. This seemed to have caught the figure's attention, as it stopped suddenly, its body still obscured in the snow. Certain features, however, were visible, such as the way it hunched awkwardly, or the distinct reptilian features present in its jaw and its tail.

"Empoleon," It growled lowly.

Empoleon dropped his stance, but his flipper remained silver, and he stepped forward, "I assume you were sent here by Blastoise, Feraligatr?"

Said Pokémon stepped forward as well, revealing his elongated jaw and a wicked set of teeth, but the rest of his body remained shrouded in darkness and snow. Empoleon noticed his mouth move awkwardly. He may have been smiling.

"Hello, Empoleon, I see you've convinced a child to join you, how endearing," Feraligatr said, "How are things going? Have you found Squirtle yet?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had multiple mini-hiatuses while writing this. Good thing it's finally out. The next chapter will be a while from this one though.


End file.
